Barcelona rejected chance to sign Toni Kroos despite Guardiola recommendation

Toni Kroos’ career at Bayern Munich was always a curious case. Even though Pep Guardiola tried his best to keep the midfielder at the club, the board simply did not want to meet the player’s salary demands.

Kroos ultimately left Bayern in 2014, joining Real Madrid for a fee of just €25 million. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Guardiola recommended Kroos at Barcelona

However, Kroos’ career trajectory could have panned out very differently, as he was once a target for FC Barcelona.

As revealed by Ramon Besa, it appears Guardiola, despite being at Bayern Munich, had recommended Barcelona to sign the Bavarian star.

Guardiola even labelled Kroos as a special player, who himself was open to moving to either Barcelona or Real Madrid.

“I remember the Kroos case a lot because I asked Guardiola when he left Bayern and he presented Kroos as an option to Barcelona. The player had the idea of ​​leaving Bayern and he was not sure whether to go to Madrid or Barça,” Besa said (h/t Diario AS).

Kroos will play his final game for Real Madrid on June 1 (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)

Barça, however, were not entirely sure of the player’s potential. As such, the board did nothing about the Kroos opportunity.

“Barcelona did not know how to bid, they believed they had alternative players. There was even talk of the case of Samper as an alternative to midfielders,” he added.

“They rejected Kroos. Guardiola warned that he was a very interesting player and due to the circumstances, he opted for Madrid. Barça did not know how to approach him,” he further revealed.

Kroos joining Barcelona in 2014 would have been quite significant, especially knowing that he could have partnered with someone like Sergio Busquets, among others.

However, it seems the German international was always destined for a move to Real Madrid and the player will be keen on securing his fifth Champions League title with Los Blancos when the team takes on Borussia Dortmund on June 1.

It will also be his final game as a Real Madrid player, with the midfielder announcing his retirement from professional football after Euro 2024.